Dobi is HOME!

Dobi at the shelter

This is a remarkable adoption update that reads like an action adventure.   In order to get the full picture I am posting excerpts from a series of emails sent to Natalie Kahla, our adoptions manager, from Dobi's adopter.  Dobi's rescue, post-adoption, shows the importance of acting immediately, networking, and following every lead when an animal goes missing.   We are ecstatic that  Dobi is now safe and sound in his forever home!

OCTOBER 23 -- As of 5:30, Dobi has been missing. While I was out my friend opened the front door for another person and Dobi dashed out of the house. They took off after him for three blocks before they were out run. I contacted 24PetWatch and filed a report on them, giving them his microchip number. After searching for over three hours with the help of friends and neighbors and local police officers who notified other officers via radio, we ended the search contacting Animal Control and the Washington Humane Society.


Dobi is wearing his collar and his blue harness. He has eaten a little today and has had a little water as he was still skittish and shy this afternoon. He slept with me under my arm last night and has responded a few times to a specific whistle I was in the process of teaching him.


He was seen running past Georgia Avenue and up Rock Creek Church Road NW (towards the direction of Columbia Heights). I have notified neighbors and everyone I have come upon tonight. I will continue to look for him tomorrow morning.


OCTOBER 24 --Still no word on Dobi. I put up about 300 posters around the area he was last seen and all over Columbia Heights.   I posted ads on craigslist and the MPD allowed me to post his flier in front of the main desk so everyone entering the station can see it. A very caring person who saw my flier recommended I join a facebook group called Columbia Heights Dog Park which is a popular dog park nearby. The group has almost 200 members of very involved dog lovers in the community. I have checked with the Humane Society of Washington and Animal Control. 


OCTOBER 25 -- Today was looking up a little better. I was putting up more fliers at a gas station on Georgia Ave posting when I ran into a UPS guy and asked him if he had see a dog. He asked me if Dobi was very small. I said yes. He asked if he was very scared and skittish. I said yes. He asked if he had a "blue thingy" and made a gesture around his chest imitating a harness. I said yes. He said he saw him at 50 Irving (Veterans Hospital at Washington Hospital Center) with a man around 3:30 pm (today) who looked "nervous like he wasn't supposed to have the dog with him" which is why he caught the UPS man's eye in the first place. I went straight there with a friend. We talked to a security guard who confirmed seeing the exact description of Dobi and I gave them a stack of fliers and spoke with an officer who refused to double check the security footage because there was "no way of confirming that dog is really yours".


NOVEMBER 1 --After one week, my baby is home!!! Dobi was found around 11pm tonight by a man on his nightly run on Rock Creek Church Road. Dobi was dodging in and out of the fence and he recognized him from the posters and called the number on the flier. A woman walking her dog came by shortly after, and it was her dog that lured Dobi.  She was able to pick him up and called the number on the flier. Dobi was in my arms by 12:37am. He has lost 5-7 lbs but has his appetite and enjoyed a peanut butter treat on top of his food. I removed 17 ticks from his chest. He has a small scratch on his nose and tip of his ear. The collar he had on him was a very worn and dirty one, NOT his original. His bright blue harness was also not on him. HE IS HOME!